Electric counter



April 1 1924. 1,488,688

H. S. LABOMBARDE ELECTRIC COUNTER Filed Nov. 7, 1921 2 Shee'cs-Shet 1 INVENTOR JMJAAM ATTORNEY April 1 1924.

S. LABOMBARD ELECTRIC COUNTER Filed Nov. '7, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 4 Z I I may INVENTOR ATTORNEY Fstented Apr. 1, 192 2.,

U15!) S'EATES HAROLD s. LABOMBARDE, or NAsHUa, new HAMPSHIRE.

ELECTRIC COUNTER.

Application filed November 7, 1921.v Serial No. 513,271.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, HAROLD S. Lnsonn enema, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Na hua, in the county of Hillsboro and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Counters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for counting the product of a box-folding machine, and refers particularly to mechanism adapted to be attached to high-speed machines which convert blanks to flat folded form and deliver them one following another in a row, the counting mechanism including means for laterally displacing single folded blanks or boxes at predetermined intervals.

One of the objects of my present invention is to provide an improved device of the character stated and the operation of which is eifected'solely by means of an electric current, under the control of the passing boxes, without requiring other power.

Another object is to provide a counter for box-folding machines with means for adjusting or varying the distance or length of travel of the boxes between the point where they exercise'control of the counting mechanism and the point where lateral displercnient occurs, to not only accommodate varying sizes of bones but to enable those which are displaced to be turned askew to the right or left or to be bodily displaced without turning them.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts substantially as hereiafter described and cla med.

' Of the accoinymnying drawings:-

Figures 1 and 2 are opposite side elevations of the improved counter in one of its embodiments. j Figure 3 represents a detail plan View on line 3-3 of Figure 1, on a larger scale.

Figure 4; represents a sectional elevation. on line l 4; of Figure 3.

Figure 5 represents a detail section on line 55 of Figure 2.

Similar reference characters indicate similar parts in all of the views.

As indicated in Figures 1 and 2, the counting device is designed to be secured to and depend from two rods 12 of the boxfolding machine which delivers the folded blanks in a row as explained in Letters Patout 'No. 1,298,518, granted to me March 25, 1919. The frame of the present device comprises an upper bar 13, end bars 14', 1-5, and a base or floor member 16 which is longitudinally slotted as at 17 (Fig. 3). Mounted in the end bars are two conductor rods or wires 18 preferably partially cov ered by insulating sheaths 19 but bare or exposed on one side so that the upright terminals hereinafter described may contact with said rods at any desired point longitudinally thereof. Said rods are, of course,

insulated from the 'rame. They are held in position by thumb nuts 20 at one end and at the other end have binding nuts 21 for the circuit wires hereinafter described.

lVithin a casing 22 at one end of the frame is the core 23 of a solenoid magnet the armature 24 of which (Fig. 5) has a head 25 to contact'with a suitable stop 26 to limit the retracted position of the armature. The other or outer end of the armature is of fiber or non-magnetic material 24: for a reason presently explained.

When the magnet is energized the armature 24, 24*, moves in the direction of the arrow, Figure 5, and actuates a displacing member which, while such member might be carrieddirectly by the outer end of the armature, is illustrated as consisting of a light plate 27 pivot-ally suportcd at 28 and having a spring 29 connecting its outer end with a suitable fixed point to cause said plate 27 to follow the inward or refractive 1110"6ll1Bl1iS'0f the armature. This displacing member will be hereinafter termed the kicker, for the sake of brevity. As will be explained, the folded boxes pass it successively, and when it acts it alone, independent of any other part of the mechanism, displaces or kicks a singlebox aside 01" laterally out of the path which it would normally follow while being delivered from the folding mechanism as descrilwd in the patent hereinbeforc referred to.

The reason for the non-magnetic portion 2% of the armature is that the armature must have a quick and positive movement for a distance to be properly etl'ective in actuating the kicker. by inter-posing the non-magnetic portion between the magnetic portion and the kicker, the said magnetic portion is certain to occupy a normal rctracted position far enough within the core 23 to receive the full projecting power of the magnet when energized.

Mounted to be adjusted along the frame base 16 is a small frame comprising of two upright plates 30, connected by pins or tie rods 31. The base of one of said plates is formed to engage and be guided by the slot 17 in the base 16, a screw 32 having a wing head 33 passing through said slot into the lower edge of said plate to secure the entire small frame in adjusted position toward or from the kicker.

' Secured to the plate 30 is the throat or chute 34, open at one side, through which side portions of boxes singly and successively pass as they are carried by the customary upper and lower belts which deliver the boxes from the folding mechanism of the machine to which the counter is attached.

Each box as it leaves the throat actuates a movable member. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention said member,

that is, the member with which the box contacts, consists of an upper roll 35. To cause the passing box to actuate said roll, a lower roll 36 is employed, said roll rotating idly on a bearing 37 which is eccentrically secured tothe plate 30. By rotatively adjusting the bearing 37 the height of the axis of rotation of the roll 36 may be varied in order that the throw of the lever which carries the upper roll may be varied to suit the particular character of the boxes to be counted.

The lever 38 on one end of which the roll is carried, is pivoted at 39 to the plate 30 and its other end 40 (Fig. 3) is at an angle and extends past the edge of the plate 30 to a position above one end of an oscillator 41 mounted on a. shaft 42 (Fig. 4), an interposed spring 43 being preferably employed to cushion the action. 7 The shaft 42 is mounted in and extends through the plate 30 and'has secured to it a ratchet 44 engaged by a pawl 45 pivoted to the oscillator 41. A suitable detent pawl 46 prevents retrograde movement of the ratchet. Adjustable stops for limiting the throw of the oscillator consists of screws 47 mounted in a small bracket 48 (Fig. 4).

Secured to the shaft 42 at the other side or back of the plate 30* is a cam' 49 of fiber or other suitable insulating material (Fig. 2). Supposing that the ratchet has iifty teeth. and that each. box passing be tween the rolls 35, 36, causes the oscillator and its pawl 45 to actuate the ratchet the distance of one tooth, then the cam 49 will make one rotation for each fifty passing boxes. I will now describe how each rotation of the cam results in completing a arm in contact with the cam.

in the position shown in Figure 2, against a stop finger 59 attached to the hub 51, by a spring 60 (Fig. 3). The cam rotates, step by step, in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 2) and when its high point passes the end of the arm 50 the spring 53 imparts a quick movement to said arm so that the finger 59 carried by the hub 51 of said arm gives a quick swinging impulse to the weight in opposition to the spring 60 and in a direction to bring the contact 57 up against the contact 54 to close an electric circuit through the wiring presently described and other parts to energize the magnet and effect operation of the kicker. The closing of the circuit is quick and brief. It is instantly broken by the rebounding of the weight against the finger 59, such rebounding being aided by the action of spring 60 which is coiled as indicated in, Figure 3 and is connected to the hub of arm 50 and to the hub of the weight so as to tend to hold the weight against finger 59 (Fig. 2). When the end of the arm 50 slips off from the high point of the cam the force of the spring is such that the weight is thrown (by finger 59) far enough to close the circuit at 57, 54, due to the momentum of the weight, but then the weight is instantly thrown back to normal position, and the circuit broken, by the action of spring 60. The resilient strip 55 which carries the contact 54 extends from a conducting stud 61 across the non-conducting stud 56 which supportssaid strip in proper position to ensure sufiicient distance between the contacts 54, 57, when the weight is in normal position (Fig. 2) and the circuit broken.

Bearing against the exposed sides of the conductor wires 18 are two conductlng terminals 62, 63. With insulation at proper points, the terminal 62 is supported to be in electrical connection with the weight 58 and itsrontact 57, the upper end of said terminal contacting only with the upper wire'18. The terminal 63, which contacts only with the lower wire 18, is supported to be in electrical connection with the strip 55 and its contact 54, (Figs. 2 and 3).

Any suitable electric wiring connections may be employed. Such connections are illustrated as comprising a wire 64 from a suitable source of electricity and connected to the winding of the solenoid, a wire from said winding to the lower rod or wire 18, and a wire 66' from the upper rod 18 back to the said source of electricity.

In operation, each article passing through the guidevay 34 (Fig 1') actuates the movable n'ieniber which, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated, comprises the roll This movement is transmitted through the lever 38 and spring 43 (F 4) to the oscillator 41 the pawl 45 of which rotates the ratchet one step and correspondingly rotates the shaft 42 and cam 49 (Fig. 2). The instant that the article passes the nip of the rolls 35, 36, the said lever and oscillator return to normal position by the action of spring 67 (Fig. 4) which is connected tothe oscillator and to one of the tie bars 81. i

One complete rotation of the cam causes a quick closing of the circuit at or by the contacts 57, 54,-as has been described, such closing being instantly broken by the automatic rebounding of the weight. The resulting action of the solenoid on the kicker, and the return thereof to normal position by the spring 29 (Fig. 2), is practically instantaneous, In fact a counter constructed according to the present drawings has accurately operated to count boxes passing at the rate of substantially one thousand a minute. This is due to the fact that the kicker itself is electrically actuated and, when actuated, moves in the direction in which the articles are displaced. This high speed is especially advantageous when the folding machine is making very small boxes which are produced much faster (by count) than large boxes. I attribute this capability of the counter to the fact that no power other than that obtained from a current of electricity is employedto actuate the dis placer in its operative direction. Such high speed can not be obtained when two things must happen, one after the other, to eifect displacement.

By adjusting the frame which carries the box-operated movable member relatively to the displacer, each displaced box can be shifted to position aside from but still parallel with the other boxes in advance and behind it, or turned askew so that its front corner or its rear corner will stand out at an angle. This is because an adjustment can be made to cause the displacer to act at the mid-length of one edge of the box, or at a point toward the front or rear end of said edge and therefore ensure proper presentation of each displaced box according to the character and sizes of the blanks which are folded and counted.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is 1. A counting device for attachment to a box making machine, comprising normally inetlectii 'e laterally movable means for displacing boxes out of their normal path of travel, an electric device for directly actuating said displacing means, and means controlled by thepassage of boxes to effeet the electrical actuation of the displacing means at predetermined intervals,

2. A counter of the character described, con'iprising a guide for the successive passa 'c of se arated articles a movable memher in position to be shifted by said articles, normally ineffective laterally movable means for displacing individual articles out of their normal path of travel, and an electric device controlled by said movable member for directly actuating said displacing means.

3. A counter of the character described, comprising a movable member in position to be actuated by passing articles, a displacer in position to shift said articles'at predetermined intervals, said displacer be ing movable in the direction in which dis placement is effected, an electro-magnet for directly actuating said displacer, and means for controlling the energizing of the magnet by the number of times the movable member is actuated by said articles.

l. A counter of the character described, comprising a movable member in position to be actuated by passing articles, a displacer in position. to laterally shift said articles at predetermined intervals, said dis placer being movable in the direction in which displacement is effected, an electromagnet for directly actuating said displacer, and means including an automatic circuit breaker for controlling the energization of the magnet according to the number of times the movable member is actuated by said articles.

5. A counter of the character described, comprising a movable member in position to be actuated by passing articles, a displacer in position to laterally shift said articles at predetermined intervals, an electromagnet for directly actuating said displacer, and means for controlling the energization of the magnet according to the number of times the movable member is actuated by said articles, said controlling means including a weight for determining the duration of the circuit of said magnet.

6. In a counter of the character described, a movable men'iber in position to be actuated by passing articles, a displacer in position to laterally shift said articles, an electric device for directly actuating the displacer at predetermined intervals of actuation of said i'i'iovable member, and means for varying the distance between said displacer and movable member to enable the displacer to act upon an article at any point lengthwisethereof.

7 In a counter of the character described, a displacer in position to act upon passing articles, an electroanagnet for actuating said displacer, a movable member in position to be actuated by articles passing to ward the displacer, a support for said member, said support being adjustable toward and from the displacer, and electric connections for controlling the energization of the magnet according'to the number of actuations of said. movable member, said connections including a pair of parallel conductors and terminals carried by said support in contact with the conductors.

8. In a counter of the character described, a displacer in. position to act upon passing articles, an electro-magnet for actuating said displacer, a movable member in posi tion to be actuated by articles passing -to ward the displacer, a support for said member, said support being adjustable relatively to the displacer, and electric connections for controlling the energization of the magnet, said connections including a pair of parallel conductors above the support and a pair of upright terminals carried by said support and contacting with said conductors.

9. Ina counter of the character described, aframe having a slotted base and a pair of parallel conductors, a sub-frame adjustable along said slotted base and having a movable member in the path of passing articles, a pair of terminals carried by said subframe and contacting with said conductors, a displacer in position to act upon articles after passing said movable member, and electrically controlled mechanism actuating said displacer, the circuit connections for said mechanism including said conductors and terminals.

10. In a counter of the character described, a displacer in position to act upon the edges of passing articles to shift them laterally, a solenoid magnet for directly actuating said displacer, a movable member in position'to be actuated by articles. approaching said displacer, and means and connections for energizing the magnet upon the completion of a predetermined number of actuations of said movable member.

11. In a counter of the character de scribed, a displacer in position to act upon the edges of passing articles to shift them laterally, a solenoid magnet for actuating said displacer, the armature of said magnet having a non-magnetic end, a movable member in position to be actuated by articles approaching said displacer, and means and connections for energizing the magnet upon the completion of a predetermined number of actuations of said movable member.

12. In a counter of the character dcscribed, a pivoted displacer in position to ac upon the edges of passing articles to shift them laterally, a solenoid magnet having its 'aanature behind said pivoted displacer, a

spring connected with the displacer to re turn it to normal ineffective position, a movable member in position to be actuated by articles approaching the displacer, and

means and connections for energizing the l spring for transmitting movement of said memberto the oscillator, a ratchet, a pawl carried by the oscillator and engaging the ratchet, a displacer in position to shift articles passing it, an electro-magnet for actuating said displacer, and means connected with said ratchet for controlling the operation of the magnet.

14. In a counter of the character described, an electro magnetically actuated displacer, means actuated by articles passing toward the displacer for controlling the operations of the magnet, and a weight carrying a contact for making and breaking the circuit of the magnet.

15. In a counter of the character described, an electro magnetically actuated displacer, a ratchet, means actuated by articles approaching the displacer for rotating the ratchet, a cam connected with the ratchet to rotate therewith, a pivoted arm, a spring for holding said arm against the cam, a weight pivoted to swing independently of said arm, a finger connectedwith the arm and bearing against the rear side of the weight, a circuit-controlling contact carried by the weight, a spring having a tendency to hold the weight against the said finger, and connections including a contact normally separated from the weight contact for ensuring energization of the displacer magnet when the high point of the cam passes the arm and the weight is swung by said finger.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

HAROLD S. LABOMBARDE.

VVitnesses KATHRYN Gross, EMMA A. Graves. 

